Surat: Surat Municipal Corportion’s garden department will plant more than 1.2 lakh native trees and 50,000 shrubs at Wild Valley Biodiversity Park, which it is building on 6,00,000 square metres of land at Althan. Civic officials started neem, peepul, banyan and umar tree plantations along with that of shrubs in the park on Monday. Majority will be oxygen releasing plants and trees, a good news for the people, official sources said.Garden superintendent SJ Gautam said, “Levelling and fencing work has been completed. Floriculture and civil work will be completed in the next six months. It would be a natural habitat for the birds because we plan to create water bodies too in the park.”This is a part of the green belt that is being developed on both sides of Gandhi Kutir Bridge to Althan and Bhimrad Bridge. The park is being built under phase one of Rs108 crore project. Phase two will see development of natural forest course with ponds, a jungle trail and a forest garden in the area together with a conservation area, an oxygen corner, children’s play area, walkway and an uneven surfaced garden. Phase one and two are coming up under Smart city mission. Municipal commissioner M Thennarasan said, “People will get a feel as if they are moving about in an urban forest in the middle of the city. A green space like this is a requirement of the city. This will provide a great relief to those living in the urban environment.”

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